UN-BHR

UN Seeks BHR Action in State-Owned Businesses

June 27, 2016

The UN Working Group on business and human rights issues has published a report calling for governments to do more to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in the operations of state-owned enterprises.
Article Laments "Minimal" Progress of UNGPs

June 27, 2016

Finding little progress in the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in the first five years after their adoption, Jérôme Chaplier of the European Coalition for Corporate Justice calls for more state action, including through "robust" national action plans, to advance the UNGPs.
Activists Call for Treaty with BHR Mandates

June 22, 2016

Arguing that the "voluntary" nature of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights has rendered them ineffective, two campaigners from the nongovernmental organization Friends of the Earth have called for a BHR treaty that applies international human rights law directly to corporate conduct.
NGO Seeks Strong BHR Action Plan in Brazil

June 21, 2016

A report from nongovernmental organization Homa Centre for Human Rights and Business calls for a robust Brazilian national action plan on business and human rights that fully implements international human rights protections on behalf of alleged victims of rights violations.
IBA Adopts "Practical" BHR Guidance for Attorneys

June 17, 2016

The International Bar Association Council has adopted "practical" guidance for corporate lawyers around the world on how they should advise their clients in light of the legal and other impacts of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Adviser Describes Growing Legal Impact of BHR Principles

June 15, 2016

In an interview with Bloomberg, corporate human rights adviser Yousuf Aftab states that the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are increasingly binding companies, through lawsuits and other legal mechanisms, to implement the UN's BHR agenda and that, in their next phase, the "corporate human rights system" will become more precise and complex.
Article Highlights Difficulties in Canadian CSR Program

June 15, 2016

Lawyer Josh Sheinert writes that Canada's attempt to fulfill international business and human rights standards by creating a Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy for its extractive sector has been beset by problems relating to lack of clarity in standards and in how officials attempting to carry out the policy are supposed to do so.
NGOs Publish Guide on BHR Defenders in Action Plans

June 15, 2016

The International Service for Human Rights and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable have published a guide for countries developing a national action plan on implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to include the protection and "support" of "human rights defenders" in their action plans.
Consultancy Produces BHR Due Diligence Tool

June 15, 2016

The consultancy GLOBAL CSR has launched a Human Rights Due Diligence Tool that guides companies on how to establish an effective due diligence process to assess their impacts on 48 human rights under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
UN Working Group Calls for More BHR Action in Korea

June 10, 2016

Following an official visit to South Korea, the UN Working Group on business and human rights issues called on the Korean government to make greater strides toward implementing the UN's business and human rights agenda, including through a BHR "national action plan," and expressed concern on various human rights issues in Korean industries.